Still from the Netflix series 'Romantics Anonymous' by director Sho Tsukikawa. (© Netflix)
Sho Tsukikawa plays cagey when asked whether or not he considers himself a romantic. However, the evidence presented by his career so far might suggest this is a man who spends a great deal of time consumed by affairs of the heart.
"I'm more a realist [than romantic]," laughs the director. "But what I do is I spend a lot of time thinking about how the audience will enjoy [the relationships] I am creating."
So let's put it all down to Tsukikawa's skills as a master storyteller. The simple fact is that his movies and his dramas are able to offer his audiences relationships that feel both so natural and so, well, real.
'Romantics Anonymous'
Tsukikawa's latest drama ー the Netflix series Romantics Anonymous ー is a case in point. Audiences at the recent Busan International Film Festival were given a sneak world preview of two episodes before the series makes its bow on the streamer on October 16. And those screenings certainly did what they were designed to do. They left those audiences wanting more.
The series plays out around the budding romance between a man who doesn't like to be touched (Shun Oguri) and a woman who can't look people in the eye (Korea's Han Hyo-joo). They are forced together by circumstance and slowly drawn into each other's lives. The backdrop is a chocolate shop – that fact alone will prove more than enough temptation for some. It's a fit that comes with a fleshed-out cast of side characters (played by the likes of the ever-charming veteran Eiji Okuda). But it's the surprising depth given to the central relationship and a simple tale that binds the whole mix together.
Older 'First Love'
"Because they're older, they obviously have more life experience. But these two characters are inexperienced in romance," explains Tsukikawa. "Even though they are aged, around their 40s, how we portrayed them is very different because it's their first love. So it's kind of closer to a teenage romance. The difference is that because of their age, they are carrying quite deep sadness."
You really do feel for them. And that's been the case with everything Tsukikawa has touched since he first captured the spotlight as a filmmaker with the surprise box office hit Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017). Again, it was a production that came full of surprises, a teen romance built around a dying girl (played by Minami Hamabe) that was full of warmth and humor, and that by its end was ー somehow ー uplifting.
Becoming a Storyteller
Tsukikawa reveals that the storyteller inside him first emerged due more to necessity than any stroke of pure genius. As a shy boy, he found himself in a drama class and was drawn to a charismatic classmate.
"There was a boy who was really into watching a lot of movies, referencing various films," Tsukikawa explains. "I thought then that if I watched a lot of movies, too, I would become more popular. So I started watching movies out of that desire, but I soon became absorbed in them. In that class, we were creating a play together, and doing creative work as a group was very stimulating. I thought it would be nice if I could make this my job. And I soon became interested in creating stories and turning them into films."
It seems the director has carried memories of that collaborative experience into his career. He recounts how, when looking for ways to make the cast of Romantics Anonymous bond, he decided to get them all together for a night of sharing – and more. Seems it worked, especially in forming the connection between the characters played by Han and Okuda.
"I wanted to deepen their relationships while letting them talk about various things," says Tsukikawa. "So they all went out drinking. Afterwards, they told me that they had built relationships that would usually take 10 years in one night."
Collaborating with Netflix
Romantics Anonymous is Tsukikawa's second with Netflix, following on from the successful action-fantasy Yu Yu Hakusho (2023). As well as the international cast, the streamer has been able to call on a team of international creators to help give the series its seductive sheen. Among them are production designer Lee Ha-jun (from Korean Oscar-winner Parasite), Japanese cinematographer Kosuke Yamada (Beyond Goodbye), and the veteran Korean music director Dalpalan (hit films such as The Good, the Bad, the Weird and The Wailing).
While Tsukikawa still wants to make movies, he explains that the long-form format offered by multiple episodes has allowed him to expand his creative horizons. That's good news for those soon to be drawn into the world of Romantics Anonymous.
"When making movies in Japan, I often receive requests to keep the production within certain boundaries," explains Tsukikawa. "But when working with Netflix, they ask me to throw out my ideas and from there, they think about how to find the necessary resources [to explore them]. This allows for very constructive communication. I am provided with a very comfortable environment in which to focus on creating."
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Author: Mathew Scott
